Kylie on Ziplining in Stadiums, NFL Group Chats & Egg Freezing Reality with Kaylee Hartung | Ep. 19

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Speaker 3 i'm not gonna lie we recorded this episode when i was 38 weeks pregnant so um

Speaker 4 girl you good how'd birth go

Speaker 3 did she come out easy

Speaker 3 oh i don't have the answer i'm still 38 weeks pregnant let's get this podcast started

Speaker 3 Welcome back to Not Gonna Lie A Wave Original, brought to you by CoverGirl.

Speaker 3 I was just doing my mascara naturally right before we started this record because I can't help myself.

Speaker 4 I love it.

Speaker 3 Lash Blash CoverGirl, always the orange tube. I'm your host, Kylie Kelsey, part-time Jersey Shore resident, Phillies fan, and currently out on maternity leave.

Speaker 3 That's right. If you're listening to this episode, that means I'm out on maternity leave and Jason and I are probably doing one or a combination of the following.

Speaker 3 Filling up water bottles, opening bags of snacks, changing a newborn diaper, changing a Benny diaper, feeding the baby, telling Wyatt to please stop yelling, picking up more packs of berries, washing said berries, and arguing with children about how much more berries you can consume in one day.

Speaker 3 And I'll tell you something I'm not doing, sleeping, unless she's a good sleeper. Can you imagine?

Speaker 3 Should we manifest it? Oh, please be doing a good job sleeping.

Speaker 3 Overnights with a newborn for us typically mean that I'm waking up and doing feeds, and Jason is sleeping so that he can man the toddlers during the day. And that's how I like it.

Speaker 3 This is not like a decision making, oh, let the man sleep. No.

Speaker 3 He needs sleep to be able to chase toddlers during the day so that I can continue to sit with a child.

Speaker 3 Little baby, just attached to me.

Speaker 3 But I didn't want to leave the real ones. That's right, the real ones hanging while I'm out.
So I'm going to bridge the gap of maternity leave with this one.

Speaker 3 You're going to get to hear my conversation with a woman.

Speaker 3 I really admire in the sports media world, NFL reporter, Today Show correspondent, and another person I have no business interviewing, Kaylee Hartong.

Speaker 3 I got a chance to talk to Kaylee about the tragic accident that ultimately made her want to become a reporter, Thursday Night Football, and her fertility journey.

Speaker 3 We talked about a bunch of other stuff, including something we're trying to manifest. So stay tuned to find out what that is.
Kaylee Hartong, everybody.

Speaker 3 You see her on the sidelines interviewing your favorite players and coaches for Thursday Night Football. She's also a correspondent for The Today Show and NBC News.

Speaker 3 You've watched her cover the Olympics, and you might have seen her interview Jason and me for the Kelsey documentary. Kaylee Hartong, welcome to Not Gonna Lie.

Speaker 4 If anybody has no business being in this setting, it's me. Are you kidding me, Kylie? I'm stopping catching up on your podcast the other day, and it's like Kate Hudson, Chelsea Handler, Kat Dennings.

Speaker 4 I'm like, what?

Speaker 3 Like, the and what and Kaylee Hartong?

Speaker 4 Did you run out of people to ask? What's up?

Speaker 3 You stop it right now. You know, you are, you know, you are high on that list.

Speaker 4 I love it.

Speaker 3 I love any opportunity to get to chat with you. Like, when I hunt you down on a sideline at the link.

Speaker 4 Oh, when you go to enemy territory. That's when I really knew

Speaker 4 how strong our friendship was when you came over to the Ram sideline ahead of

Speaker 4 your traditional playoff game to give me a hug. I was like, this is love.
This is true friendship because

Speaker 4 it was like seconds before we were going on the air. And I was like, the Rams are like running out the tunnel.
You're like, excuse me, excuse me.

Speaker 3 Excuse me, guys. I need you to move.
Thanks.

Speaker 3 We're about to whoop your ass. And also, I need to give this woman a hug.
Thank you.

Speaker 3 You're not going to lie. So be honest.

Speaker 3 How did you think that first interview went when we sat down in our backyard?

Speaker 4 With you and Jason? Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 4 My personal favorite part was when we have to shoot what we call the B-roll, right? And so we're just like walking around the backyard with your giant dogs and the girls and pushing them on the swing.

Speaker 4 And it was just like,

Speaker 4 trying not to step in dog poop and everywhere everywhere

Speaker 4 they were the

Speaker 3 the producers were like you're just gonna walk straight through the yard and I was like oh my gosh

Speaker 4 oh my gosh

Speaker 3 there's enough dog poop back here to sink a battleship and you have this poor woman but it was so walking and talking with us walking and talking let's get into your career a little bit I want to start at the very beginning I've heard you talk about what made you want to become a reporter, and I think it's so meaningful.

Speaker 3 So any, for any of the listeners that don't know your story, can you share a little bit about that?

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 4 So

Speaker 4 it's, it's, I've become more comfortable sharing this story. For a while, I think it was hard for me to do.

Speaker 4 But my father died when I was 10 years old, and he was, he was a pilot. He flew aerobatics and air shows like a real life kind of top gun character, if you will.
And,

Speaker 4 you know, like so many kids growing up, I thought my dad was invincible. And

Speaker 4 he was flying in an air show

Speaker 4 actually in Louisiana. And so we were there and he would fly all over the world.
And it was just a terrible coincidence of sorts that we were actually there that day.

Speaker 4 But he crashed in an air show in front of me and my mom and my brother. And

Speaker 4 it was the worst day of my life. No comparison.
And

Speaker 4 so we got home that night and the TV was on for noise more than anything. And, you know, the house was filling up with people coming to look after us.

Speaker 4 And like the whole room stopped at this one point when what I now know to be like a 30-second anchor voiceover of a headline of the day came on CNN.

Speaker 4 And the report said something to the effect of,

Speaker 4 Today in Lafayette, Louisiana, in front of 13,000 people, a plane crashed.

Speaker 4 And I didn't understand at 10 years old how the death of the most important man in my world, the death of an amazing man, like was treated as an event.

Speaker 4 Like he wasn't honored in the telling of this very quick story. His death was an event.

Speaker 4 It wasn't about the man he was and the family he left behind or the life he created for himself, you know, coming to the States. And he had an incredible life story and he'd accomplished so much.

Speaker 4 And, and, and and i i just i didn't understand how the most personal moment of my life could be talked about without any emotion and and so in in that moment and through that experience i just thought i i want to tell other people's stories and i want when i have the privilege of telling someone's story i want them to feel like justice is done to their story so that when you hear your life being talked about, you feel the connection.

Speaker 4 You feel that whether it's the best day of your life or the worst day of your life, that that moment is honored. Because to me,

Speaker 4 it's a privilege, right? Like people share their stories with me and trust me to tell them. So I want to, I want to honor that.

Speaker 4 And growing up, the Today Show was on the TV every morning as I was getting ready for school. Like that was how I understood news was consumed.
That was the show.

Speaker 4 And so, yeah, when I was 10 years old, decided the goal was to be on the Today Show. And it's so weird to say out loud.
And I feel like at times it feels,

Speaker 4 I think I'm still

Speaker 4 in some version of pinch me kind of shock, but like it, it's a really incredible thing when you can make a dream come true. And

Speaker 4 yeah, so I'm like,

Speaker 4 live in the dream.

Speaker 3 So you became a reporter for CNN, ABC, and now NBC, obviously, you said with the Today Show, but you've now been there for people on their worst days

Speaker 3 and been able to give people that honor and that moment to

Speaker 3 have for their loved one. Was there ever a moment while you were covering tragedies where you

Speaker 3 sort of thought like maybe this is too much or you've really felt like you're lending your voice to exactly what you thought?

Speaker 4 I

Speaker 4 would say lending my voice to exactly what I thought. I mean, there have been tough moments, no doubt about that.

Speaker 4 I mean, when I was at CNN, I spent two years only showing up on the worst days of people's lives.

Speaker 4 To get on TV at CNN in that time, if you weren't covering politics, which I wasn't, it had to be death, despair, or destruction. I covered mass shootings and natural disasters for two years.

Speaker 4 I don't think I smiled on TV in that time. And that, in totality, took a toll on me for sure.
I was just, I came to the realization, like, this is not the right fit for me.

Speaker 4 It was an incredible learning experience without a doubt. And that was after having spent five years at ESPN.

Speaker 4 And so I felt like I was building a skill set, but needed to find a better professional home for myself in a way that I could show up on not just the worst days, but also the best days and celebrate those moments.

Speaker 4 Because like, if balance is like a trigger word, I feel like for a lot of people.

Speaker 4 And I think balance is really hard to find, but I'm really proud of the way I feel like I've gotten to a place in my career where there is some balance in the type of stories I get to tell for my own

Speaker 4 sanity and well-being.

Speaker 3 Now, I do a TikTok series called I Places Kylie Has No Business Being. Ooh, yes.

Speaker 3 One of those places was on set at the today show you weren't just on set you were behind the camera you were in the control room i mean you just ran the whole freaking show like i don't know i don't know why security let me loose uh but they did and i took advantage um the minute they were like yeah you could put the headset on behind camera and i'm like oh

Speaker 4 okay

Speaker 4 how did that feel like did you feel the power was there like power in your fingertips where you're like oh i can just press the buttons and

Speaker 3 I was this close to being like, can I do the next segment? Can I just leave it here?

Speaker 4 They probably would have said yes.

Speaker 3 They probably would have. I mean, I just would have had to pull my like video production from college of like pan this way.
Like, like, I have all those terms. Yeah.

Speaker 3 It just would have taken me a minute. I would have needed a refresher course before I felt good enough to go into a segment.

Speaker 3 But is there a place that you have ever felt

Speaker 3 in your years of covering news or sports that was like a really big moment for your career to where you were like, do I have business being here?

Speaker 4 Oh, I mean, it happens all the time.

Speaker 4 They asked me to fill in co-hosting the Today Show. Like that is

Speaker 4 no business.

Speaker 3 Let me think about that. That was last summer, right?

Speaker 4 Last year.

Speaker 4 I think you left. Oh, Tahoe.

Speaker 3 I remember you being like, I have to leave because I have to go co-host the Today Show. Super casual.

Speaker 4 I'll be back tomorrow, though.

Speaker 4 Like, I came back.

Speaker 4 You did.

Speaker 4 I was so sad to leave you guys.

Speaker 4 But

Speaker 4 yes, that was, that was one of the, that was maybe the second or third time that I got to do it. But yeah, like, if they ask, I'm never saying no.
Like, I will move mountains,

Speaker 4 fly over the mountains of Tahoe to get. back to New York.

Speaker 4 But I mean, yeah, my job puts me in places I have no business being all the time. Like the Oscars or the Grammys, like what? How did I get here? That stuff happens regularly.

Speaker 4 But it's like the trick in all of those situations, you know, people say is like, act like you've been there. And then, but it's really hard sometimes.

Speaker 3 The real ones already know how big a fan I am of CoverGirl. I've been using their mascara since I was in high school.

Speaker 3 And every single time I sit down to tape an episode of this show, I'm doing my mascara right before we start rolling. That's not a bit.

Speaker 3 I come at least five minutes late and then I proceed to do my mascara. Now, what mascara is it, you ask?

Speaker 3 Oh, just the CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume Mascara designed to max out every single lash. I got this mascara when I finally started purchasing my own mascara and stopped stealing my mom's.

Speaker 3 Starting in high school and going all the way to now, the only thing that I do consistently for my makeup routine has been this mascara.

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Speaker 1 Though not everyone at risk will develop it, 99% of people over the age of 50 already have the virus that causes shingles, and it could reactivate at any time.

Speaker 1 I developed it, and the blistering rash lasted for weeks. Don't learn the hard way, like I did.
Talk to your doctor or or pharmacist today.

Speaker 1 Sponsored by GSK.

Speaker 3 We just wrapped your third season as a sideline reporter for Thursday Night Football this year.

Speaker 3 When I had Carissa on your fellow Thursday Night Football teammate, we talked a little bit about the community of women in sports media. Is there like a group chat? What are you guys doing?

Speaker 4 I mean, me, Carissa, and Taylor, my Thursday night sisters, we have a group chat, but like,

Speaker 4 I feel really lucky, and

Speaker 4 I really do feel incredibly lucky for the group of women that work in that space and who I've been friends with for a long time and who we've gotten to like be on the journey together.

Speaker 4 Like, I saw, I was at an event for the NBA a couple of days ago. Maria Taylor was hosting.
And, like, when I went to ESPN in 2012, I first met her. She and I were both sideline reporters.

Speaker 4 And then, um, like, Laura Rutledge, who now hosts NFL Live on ESPN, she

Speaker 4 came on maybe a year or two after us. And like, we've all just like, we've seen each other work our tails off.
You know, we've supported each other through so many twists and turns in our careers.

Speaker 4 And it, you know, it, I think as women, and I don't know, maybe this is true for men too, but like for me at least, in each like chapter of my life, you need friends who are in a similar stage as you, right?

Speaker 4 And like, I've experienced that to the extent of like my best girlfriends from growing up in Louisiana that I made when I was seven years old are still some of my closest friends.

Speaker 4 And I'm so grateful that they've been in my life all of these years. But like, and the same is true for my girlfriends from college and so on and so forth.
But like,

Speaker 4 as they've had kids and I haven't, you know,

Speaker 4 you have to, I've had to make new girlfriends, right? Who are at a similar stage, who are focused on their career or who you know or who haven't had children yet or whatever it may be.

Speaker 4 And so like, I feel very lucky that I have these long friendships with women in the sports world where we've just been through it together and then now can just be really excited for each other.

Speaker 4 And also like, you know, have conversations to compare notes or, you know, whether that be like actually literally about a team we're covering.

Speaker 4 Like Laura Rutledge and I, I feel like the last two years, we've both covered the same teams in the play.

Speaker 4 Like she's had a team in the wild card and then I'll have them in the divisional and then I'll, you know, text her and be like,

Speaker 4 where did, what was the status of this injury for this player last week? Like, if he's saying this to me now, what was he saying to you last week?

Speaker 4 You know, like it, we, I think we can help each other be better at our jobs and like cheerlead for each other.

Speaker 4 Like, and you, you know, you started this whole question off with Carissa and like, I am so grateful to her. She has been such a wonderful like.

Speaker 4 teammate and friend and we were friends before we were teammates on thursday night but like you just need you know you need

Speaker 4 your girls at whatever stage in life you're in.

Speaker 3 When you are sideline reporting, I think that this is one of the most like underappreciated roles on the field. I think that you said it, I'm serious, you said it earlier.

Speaker 3 You receive these guys, especially post-game, whether it's positive or negative, you are like the first one

Speaker 3 really there to help them digest what they just experienced, which is tricky.

Speaker 3 Can be tricky. I can only imagine.

Speaker 3 Are there certain coaches or players that you

Speaker 3 know for a fact that when you talk to them, you're going to get a good sound bite?

Speaker 4 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 Or like, do you have favorites?

Speaker 4 Of course. Of course.
Okay, who are they?

Speaker 4 I want names. And you want names.

Speaker 4 No, I mean, there are just, like, when it comes to coaches, okay, coaches, they get put in the worst position and like i just want to apologize every time i put a microphone in a coach's face at halftime right like they do not want to talk to me and i don't take it personally it's not about me it's just they don't want to they want to go

Speaker 4 call you know figure out their adjustments and you know if they're winning losing whatever like it doesn't matter they don't want to talk to me but there are definitely coaches who you can just you know will will give you an answer to the question you ask.

Speaker 4 And so it's like, in, for me, in those moments, it's on me. I think of it like, I'm not trying to ask these coaches like a gotcha question.

Speaker 4 I'm trying to set them up to actually help us all learn something about their state of mind as they're trying to win a football game. Right.
So like

Speaker 4 if I don't get a good answer, I a lot of times I'm like, well, I asked a bad question, you know, like that's, that's on me. And sometimes it's like, nope, wasn't on me at all.

Speaker 4 Didn't matter what I asked, they weren't going to, you know, and that's fine too, right but I can be probably unnecessarily hard on myself in some of those situations but all that to say like

Speaker 4 Sean McVay is incredible Kevin O'Connell is fantastic but like these are also guys who you know like they're just I think once you realize like they're real people too you know it matters and as as long as you as I they know I do my homework they treat me with respect because they know I show up as prepared as I can be I think

Speaker 4 but like those are two examples of guys that are just are great.

Speaker 4 Post-game with players, when you're in this position of like, they've just had an incredible performance, right? Like, that's why I'm talking to you.

Speaker 4 You've just won a game and you did something exceptional.

Speaker 4 So I think it can be such a difficult spot for them so many times to verbalize their emotions, right? Like that is hard.

Speaker 4 I mean, you know, somebody like, You have your fourth child and somebody puts a microphone in your face. Kylie,

Speaker 4 how it feel?

Speaker 3 Like, I'll let you know as soon as I can feel my undercarriage.

Speaker 4 Thank you, right?

Speaker 3 Like, you're like, what the put that on national television, right?

Speaker 4 But, like, it's so like they're put in a tough position too, and a lot of times, but it's, I try to use as few words as possible, if that makes sense, in asking my questions, so that I can just set them up and get out of the way, right?

Speaker 4 Like,

Speaker 4 they're the goal, they have the goal.

Speaker 3 I love the idea of you saying that you don't try to get, especially the coaches at halftime on a gotcha question, because I do think that hearing feedback from my husband, hearing feedback from other like athletes in the NFL, to know that they can trust someone who's interviewing them to not try and bait them into a situation where they say something that ends up as like clickbait or clickbait or a headline or

Speaker 3 gets them to say something that they probably shouldn't divulge in that moment just because they're running off of sheer emotion is like such an asset in your role to be able to recognize like you want them to say something to help people learn and that is like the best summary I've ever heard of a of a halftime coach's question that's outstanding I appreciate

Speaker 3 earlier this past NFL season you ziplined across the Falcons Stadium.

Speaker 4 Yes.

Speaker 4 Are you a thrill seeker? I am. Okay.
I told you about my dad. I told you about my dad, who was a pilot.

Speaker 4 And like, I grew up flying, you know, with him in ways that, like, I'd be like, daddy, go faster, you know, and we're like in his plane doing barrel rolls and flips in the air.

Speaker 4 And I don't even know how my mother could watch any of that on the ground. But,

Speaker 4 but, yes, like, I, it's in my blood. And

Speaker 4 that is what it is. But it's funny you bring up the zip line.
So that was a Today Show feature story. And I I get an email from one of our bosses and it just says, Are you afraid of heights?

Speaker 4 And I said, No.

Speaker 4 And then she said, Okay, cool. We've got a piece for you at the Falcon Stadium.
I said, Okay, great. Like, I'm just worried about logistics, right? Like, when can I fly down?

Speaker 4 How quick can I make the trip? When can I get out? You know, when does the piece air? When do I need to be on set?

Speaker 3 And like, I asked

Speaker 4 no questions.

Speaker 4 I get down there and they're they're like, Yeah, you're going to zip line across the stadium. Now, when I say harness,

Speaker 4 when I say zip line, like I think summer camp, right?

Speaker 3 Like, I know what I'm seeing is you upside down.

Speaker 4 So, then, okay, so they're like, the mascot, Freddie, the falcon, is going to jump first so you see what it's like. And there's only one harness,

Speaker 4 so you'll be on the ground and you'll watch him.

Speaker 4 Uh-uh. I'm I'm sitting down there.
Freddy likes to dives headfirst. And I'm like,

Speaker 4 what?

Speaker 3 This is not,

Speaker 4 this is not what we discussed, despite the fact I asked no questions before I showed up. This is not what we discussed five minutes ago.

Speaker 4 And then, so it's like a free fall, a significant free fall, and then a little glide.

Speaker 4 So he gets down, and I'm just like, so do I have to go headfirst? Like, what are my options here?

Speaker 4 do I have to flip? Like, can I just, what is the easiest least?

Speaker 3 So I'm assuming, seeing the photo of you, the screenshot of you doing it, that the only option was to flip yourself like the falcon and go headfirst? Or was that a personal choice?

Speaker 4 No.

Speaker 4 So what I recognized I could do after much deliberation was that you could like jump in a seated position, and then, like, you know, how anytime you're on an apparatus, anytime you're on an apparatus like that, you it like catches, right?

Speaker 4 Like, whether you're skydiving or anything with a harness like that. So, I recognized I could like jump and sit so that when it caught, I'd be upright at least, and then you wouldn't like

Speaker 4 jerk more than you had to, and then I could go upside down.

Speaker 4 So, I

Speaker 4 I mean,

Speaker 4 and then I went upside down because the guy, Freddie, the falcon, was like, but you have to get upside down at some point because, like, it's so fun. And so I was upside down as I zipped.
I,

Speaker 4 and it was a bullcast.

Speaker 3 Like, I was like, I should have heard that this started with an email, are you afraid of bites, and ended up with you upside down doing the falcon fly through the falcon stadium?

Speaker 4 Oh my God. And so it would not be me.
That's all I know.

Speaker 4 Once I got to the top of that stadium and I'm harnessed in and then they're like, okay, now climb over this ledge. No.
And I'm like,

Speaker 4 absolutely not.

Speaker 3 Hold on to what?

Speaker 4 Like, and they're like, and now hold this GoPro in this hand. And I'm like,

Speaker 4 there's nothing for me to, I'm on a beam above the stadium. I'm like, there's nothing out here for me to hold on to.
And then I'm just standing out there. And now I start getting nervous.

Speaker 4 Like, I couldn't feel my my legs. And at that point, the cameras are rolling, like all the things are happening.

Speaker 4 And I really was like, well, I can't climbing back over this ledge actually right now in this moment when I can't feel my legs would be harder than just jumping. Jump, jump.

Speaker 4 So then this guy starts counting and it's like three, two. And I was like,

Speaker 4 fuck. And just like, I mean, like, and there was, I had no choice at that.
Like, I truly had no choice at that point. And it

Speaker 4 actually had a pass.

Speaker 3 I feel like once you're harnessed and over the, over the trailing, once you're over the rail, you're pot committed.

Speaker 4 You're pot committed.

Speaker 3 You're going. It doesn't matter if it takes you an extra 10 to 15 seconds.
You're getting off of there. Yeah.
And the only way down

Speaker 4 apparently upside down simple.

Speaker 4 So I do this all, you know, it's taped. We edit it together for a Today Show piece.
And then I was there for a Thursday night game, like two weeks later.

Speaker 4 And there was legitimately a conversation about me doing it live in the broadcast, like during the game, like right before kickoff or during halftime.

Speaker 4 And it was like, oh, well, Freddy is doing his performance pre-kick, like he always does. And again, there's only one harness.
So like you can't interfere with Freddy's routine.

Speaker 4 And then at halftime, like, and I'm just sitting here being like, yo, we did

Speaker 4 one and done. Like, roll the tape that live in a stadium filled with people.

Speaker 4 what could you imagine no like that's where i probably i mean if i'm being honest i probably that's where you draw the line i probably would have done i was gonna say that's where i draw the line like i probably would have done it but you know what i really want to do okay i'm putting this out in the universe what i really want to do is skydive with like the army the golden knights or whatever where i'm strapped onto them.

Speaker 4 Like, I don't want to have to pull the shoot. I just, I'll be strapped to them.

Speaker 4 And I want to skydive into a stadium pre-kick and like deliver the game ball and then have somebody hand me my microphone and be be like do my open report like that that's my next goal in terms of throw seeking totally tell me this is the u.s army parachute team yeah yeah the golden knights

Speaker 3 they're coming to philadelphia stop

Speaker 4 they're in my dms

Speaker 4 stop they're in your dms oh my god

Speaker 4 what if we manifest this what if we manifest then you're gonna have to be on the field at the link waiting for me when I land. I want you to hand me the microphone.
That is what we're doing.

Speaker 3 Should we manifest? Okay, just to be clear.

Speaker 4 I want to be clear. Here's the

Speaker 4 applied. Here's the DM that they send you a deal.
Okay. Okay.

Speaker 3 There is the other podcast. That's what we call them over here.

Speaker 3 They have a habit of manifesting things.

Speaker 3 And I feel like we have not manifested enough here. We're a couple months in.
I feel like you have now given us the perfect opportunity. You heard it here first, people.

Speaker 3 We're just cooking up, cooking up some the golden nights.

Speaker 3 We have a proposal for you.

Speaker 4 Okay, so when the NFL schedule comes out in May,

Speaker 4 whenever our Thursday night game is, I feel like we've been to Philadelphia every year. Like, I hope I love going, I love doing Games of the Link.

Speaker 4 Okay, well, yeah, I mean, let's call Howie, let's call my bosses, let's like, let's. Yes.

Speaker 3 Let's, let's make this happen.

Speaker 3 We're going to manifest this. I feel like we might not have to wait until football season, but I'm going to let you know we're going to manifest this.
So

Speaker 4 we'll put together a little proposal package and we'll send it where it needs to go if you catch my drift. It's the people watching.

Speaker 4 Like people ask me all the time about, you know, do you get nervous being on TV? And I'm like, yeah, every time. Like, I think nerves are a healthy thing to some degree.
Like, it means you care. But,

Speaker 4 but it.

Speaker 3 Jason always said that.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 4 But like it, there's something about a live audience that makes me like I am way more nervous going on a stage to moderate a panel than I am to step in front of a camera that's a black box where you can't see the people.

Speaker 4 Like the real-time reactions of people is what I think makes me

Speaker 4 like even more.

Speaker 3 Oh, this is great. We're going to make this happen.
Isn't Kaylee the best?

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Speaker 3 Something that I think is very important that you touched on was that, like, you don't currently have kids, but some of your friends from earlier phases in life may have been having kids.

Speaker 3 Literally, all of them.

Speaker 3 And I do think that, like, from my own experience, I think it's so important

Speaker 3 to like, especially as a mom now and a mom of almost four.

Speaker 3 I know there are people who would get offended, like moms who would get offended and be like, well, like, like, we're still friends like that. Like, me having kids doesn't change it.

Speaker 3 But, like, it does

Speaker 3 because it's a very different life phase that you are in.

Speaker 3 even though you can still connect on every other level that you've always connected on.

Speaker 3 Like your friendship is still your friendship, but like you can't help it as a mother, but to talk about your kids or to get swallowed up by motherhood.

Speaker 3 And then in the same realm, like you might be focused on your career at the moment and you might be diving into that wholeheartedly and like a new mother might be like, well, why aren't you calling me as much?

Speaker 3 And it's like, well, because I have important stuff too. Just because it's not a child doesn't mean that it's not truly important to me and like what I'm doing with my life.

Speaker 3 And I think it's so important to have that balance of people who are experiencing exactly that and to also not get offended that other people are experiencing life no matter what it is

Speaker 3 and that it's not a personal attack and it's not a lack of friendship, that it really is just like that you're

Speaker 3 doing life.

Speaker 3 Right. And part of friendship is respecting and loving that about each other.

Speaker 3 One of the things that you have discussed, though, is

Speaker 3 your fertility journey and specifically freezing your eggs.

Speaker 3 You shared a lot about this process on your Instagram,

Speaker 3 where you shared a photo of yourself on your 27th shot in 12 days.

Speaker 4 Yeah, that sounds right.

Speaker 3 First of all, thank you for sharing that.

Speaker 3 Can you talk about the importance of like being open with that experience and that journey?

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 4 So when I turned 35, I think that was my most significant birthday as an adult in the sense that my mom was 35 when she was widowed with two kids.

Speaker 4 And it, I don't know, something about that number and me sort of taking stock of where I'm at in my life

Speaker 4 struck me. And I recognized like we're also in the middle of a pandemic and I'm not traveling as much as I usually do for work.

Speaker 4 Like I wanted to feel like I came out of the pandemic having accomplished something that I wouldn't have been able to do or would have been harder to do otherwise. Right.

Speaker 4 And so yeah, I decided I was going to freeze my eggs and

Speaker 4 it's such a weird process on so many levels, but it struck me initially that as I started just googling on the internet, it was really hard to find resources.

Speaker 4 And it was like just to with questions I had. And I didn't think my questions were unusual.

Speaker 4 I thought they were probably the questions any girl would ask who was exploring the process, but it just was surprisingly hard to find information. And then

Speaker 4 at the time, I was working for ABC News and Good Morning America, thankfully, was open to me talking about it and gave me a platform.

Speaker 4 And I could not believe the reaction I got and the response I got on social media and sharing it because there were women just like me, as I imagined, who were looking for answers to their questions and who just needed, I think, to see somebody else experiencing it and

Speaker 4 willing to share it. So yeah, all that being said, like

Speaker 4 a box just shows up at my door. one day and you know dump it out on the ground and it's just like needles and bottles these syringes and the like and I'm just like

Speaker 4 what this is so intimidating And I had one of my best girlfriends on the phone with me as I was watching a YouTube tutorial about how to give yourself the shots.

Speaker 4 And I was having to give myself two or three shots a day. And it's just like the weirdest process.

Speaker 4 And, you know, there's the one shot where you have to take the liquid out of one vial and put it into the vial with the powder and mix it up.

Speaker 4 And you're just like, I'm shocked this isn't more foolproof. Like, I am going to screw this up.
And what happens if I screw this up? And this is expensive.

Speaker 4 And if I mess up one shot, does it ruin the whole process? Like, you're just asking yourself all of these questions. And you just feel like there are all these ways that you're going to mess it up.

Speaker 4 And then after I got through the very, the first night of shots, like after that, it was just, it was like bam, bam, bam

Speaker 4 became routine in a way that actually like surprised me how easy it became. But what I learned through the process too is that like every woman's experience with

Speaker 4 egg freezing or if you turn those into embryos and do IVF, like that initial process is every woman experiences so so differently right and for me through the period where I was giving myself the shots which was almost two weeks I was living life as normal I mean I was treating my body like I was pregnant in terms of you know what I was eating and you know I wasn't drinking any alcohol all the things like that but I um I was working like I interviewed Gavin Newsome, the governor of California, the day before my egg retrieval.

Speaker 4 And then now, granted, I had on like a boxy blazer and I looked like I was three months pregnant, but like, um, I went in for my retrieval the next day.

Speaker 4 And like, to that point, the process has been so easy relative to the fear I had of what it would be like.

Speaker 4 Now, there was one day, thankfully it was a Saturday, where I woke up in the middle of that process and I felt so hungover. And I was like, I don't understand.
I haven't had a drink in like a month.

Speaker 4 Why do I feel this way? And then I was like, it's the hormones. Like, it, like, just listen to your body in this.
Like, it's, don't be afraid. Don't be weirded out.

Speaker 4 Like, it's just your body's taking, you know, going through this incredible process. And I just laid on the couch all day and watched Gray's Anatomy and cried.

Speaker 4 And I just let myself, you know, and I didn't get too upset about it beyond just saying, I need to cry. Like the hormones are real.
This is all happening. Anyway, fast forward, I do the egg retrieval.

Speaker 4 And that's when it got difficult for me. My recovery process was really intense.

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 4 it was intense in large part because I had a really successful

Speaker 4 cycle.

Speaker 4 I was lucky enough to have a lot of eggs. And I've realized in the process of sharing my story,

Speaker 4 sometimes it's hard for other women to hear like

Speaker 4 how many eggs I got, you know, knowing that like

Speaker 4 it's hard to get a lot of eggs, right? And I didn't realize that when I first shared that that could be uncomfortable for a lot of women to hear that number.

Speaker 4 I just thought I was sharing information and that would be helpful.

Speaker 4 But I had a really successful retrieval process and then my body freaked out.

Speaker 4 Like, if you think about what you're actually doing to it, and you're pumping in these hormones to create all of these eggs, get the biggest bang for your buck in this one retrieval that you can, and then they're gone.

Speaker 4 Like, my body went into

Speaker 4 a sort of shock. It's called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.
And

Speaker 4 I was so, I was down for the count for like a week. Like I had intense nausea for the first three days and was told I needed to cut out all carbs and all sugar, or else the

Speaker 4 pain I would be in would be even worse. But yeah, it was a definite journey, but I'm so glad I did it.
And I have been such a proponent of women who are even thinking about it to do it.

Speaker 4 I was lucky at 35 to have as successful of a retrieval process as I did.

Speaker 4 But I still wish I would have done it sooner. Like I still wish I would have done it younger.
And if your insurance covers it, definitely take the money and do it now. Like, don't wait.

Speaker 4 That's sort of my message. Like my insurance didn't cover it.

Speaker 4 And I think that's like just unbelievable

Speaker 4 that it was something I had to do on my own in that way. But

Speaker 4 yeah, if anybody has any questions,

Speaker 4 I really love supporting other women through the journey.

Speaker 3 I think it's so beautiful that not only you're willing to have these conversations, that you're willing to discuss your own journey with it, that you're encouraging other women to explore it themselves, because I do think that we are in a phase of empowering women who aren't necessarily in a rush to do what we were told to do years ago, right?

Speaker 3 Like before it was like, oh, you're in your mid-20s, like it's clocks ticking, you better get married, have kids. Like

Speaker 3 there are women who, like yourself, are absolutely crushing it in their careers, who set out to do something when they were 10 years old and have done exactly what they set out to do with a lot of hard work and dedication.

Speaker 3 And so to empower other women to see by seeing your journey and then you telling them like, I did this and you could do it too.

Speaker 3 And it doesn't mean that I, I don't have to have a, I have to sacrifice a family. It doesn't mean that I have to make this decision now,

Speaker 3 but that like you took it upon yourself to

Speaker 3 to take matters into your own hands and say, like,

Speaker 3 like, I'm going to make sure that I have the information, that I share the information that I get because it wasn't easy to find is such an amazing way to support other women.

Speaker 3 And I really, really appreciate you doing that.

Speaker 4 That's incredible.

Speaker 4 Thanks for asking the question. I'm glad to, glad to talk about it.

Speaker 4 it's it's weird how i feel like it things that are tough to talk about it's like once you just say some things out loud just to your friends right it just becomes easier and then to take ownership over that and and to be lucky enough to like have a platform to share it is like i it just it yeah i feel like it's it's been a something i'm very proud to have done and been able to talk about i cannot thank you enough for getting on here today with me i am so happy that we finally got you on not gonna lie

Speaker 4 And I am so grateful for the invitation. I love that we got this time together.
That's the best part. This is the best.

Speaker 3 No, thank you so much. And again, thank you for the conversations you're having, the examples you're setting.
We love, you know, I love to see some women in sports.

Speaker 4 Woo-hoo.

Speaker 4 And I love when I get to see you

Speaker 4 at those sporting events. Just creeping this, creeping the sidelines at the link.

Speaker 3 Thank you again. And of course, we'll talk soon.

Speaker 4 Yes, I can't wait. Thank you.
Thank you.

Speaker 3 Thank you so much again to my guest, Kaylee Hartong, for chatting with me. You can find even more clips from our conversation on my YouTube channel on More Ship Monday.

Speaker 3 I love

Speaker 3 getting to talk to the incredible women that I get to talk to, but there's an added little bonus when it's someone that I know and

Speaker 3 get to learn even more about. So I'm so, so grateful that Kaylee sat in with us today.
And that's a wrap on another episode of Not Gonna Lie.

Speaker 3 Stay tuned to our social accounts at NGL with Kylie for updates on when I'll officially be back from maternity leave.

Speaker 3 We already have some great guests lined up, and maybe you'll even see me in a brand new set. Queen Emma told me that they call that a tease.

Speaker 3 In the meantime, the NGL team will be posting all sorts of never-before-seen clips on More Ship Monday on the YouTube channel, as well as our Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. We've got you covered.

Speaker 3 We're not going to leave you hanging. And by we, I mean the rest of the NGL team.

Speaker 3 Because I'm busy

Speaker 3 healing

Speaker 3 and

Speaker 3 trying to keep four tiny humans alive. I think I'm okay.

Speaker 3 Who knows? Also, they call this a call to action.

Speaker 3 Send us all your ask me something questions.

Speaker 3 We may.

Speaker 3 Need some fresh ones to answer when I come back.

Speaker 3 You know

Speaker 3 when my brain comes back, I'm probably not going to have a brain. That's going to be a disaster.
You should ask a lot of questions because

Speaker 3 sleep deprivation and answering questions could go poorly for me and well for you.

Speaker 3 So submit those questions.

Speaker 3 And now back to this close. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcast.
Follow the show on all social media at NGL with Kylie. Not going to lie is a wave original brought to you by CoverGirl.

Speaker 3 Thank you guys again for tuning in.